My Labor is NOT in Vain! 1 Cor. 15:58

I am a child of the Most High God and one of Jesus’ handmaidens. I am married with 7 beautiful children. My desire is to serve my Savior Jesus Christ with all of my heart and for all of my days. I was a rebellious, angry, lost, and hurt woman destined for hell and separation from God. Jesus had mercy on me, called and saved me. Today I am one of His trophies of grace, consecrated to God to be used for His glory. I have not allowed my past full of drugs, gangs, divorce, tragedy, and prison to destroy me. Instead I share my past experiences with others becoming a living witness to all of God’s mercy and grace.
As I study the Word of God and spend time with our Lord I long to share with others the faith and hope that I am filled with. I will encourage other believers to search the Scriptures daily, become doers of the Word, live in the Freedom that Christ died and rose to give us, and be different for this world. I know no other way than to speak the Word of God in love without sweet talk and flattery. This is real Christian talk for real Christians that long to please God and grow in the knowledge of Christ. May the Lord give me wisdom and courage to fulfill His calling.

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A Proverb A Day

My hearts desire this year and my prayer to our Lord was for Him to draw me even closer, to reveal Himself more to me, and to impart His wisdom in me. In fact God’s wisdom is something I have been praying for and seeking ever since I read the story of Solomon in 1 Kings.Read Complete Posting Now

Trusting God The Gardener

I believe that we are part of God’s garden where he loves, nurtures and waters us with His Word and the Holy Spirit. He prunes us of those dead and useless habits and strongholds that hinder our growth and ability to produce good fruit. He plants us where we are currently so that we can beautify our surroundings and bear much fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, for others to see. Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit”. (John 15:16) Read Complete Posting

First Public Confession

I began doing drugs, fighting, having sex, stealing, clubbing, hanging out all night and disappearing for days at a time. I had been arrested a couple of times and did a little time in juvenile detention. Then I was sixteen when my mother died in a tragic car accident. This pushed me over the edge. Now I was full of rage and hurt. The one emotion that I had the most that ate at my heart was regret. I regretted not being able to be the daughter that my mother deserved. I just wanted to know that she loved me. What I shared next surprised me…Read Complete Posting

Garment of Praise For The spirit of Heaviness

Praise is a weapon. God has given us the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Did you know that heaviness is a spirit? (Isaiah 61:3) When you praise God those bad feelings and that heaviness has to leave. You see God inhabits the praise of his people. (Psalm 22:3) Read Complete Posting

Secret To Succesful Christian Living

James 1:25 says, "But if anyone keeps looking steadily into God's law for free men, he will not only remember it but he will do what it says, and God will greatly bless him in everything he does." I truly believe that the secret to living a successful Christian life is in reading the Word daily. Read Complete Posting

Prayer Hindrances

do you ever feel like your prayers are not being answered or God can not hear them? What if there is something blocking our prayers from reaching the throne room? What if our prayer line was clogged or contaminated? Is that possible? Yes..there are hindrances that can creep into our lives and clog or block the communication lines with God keeping our prayers from being heard and answered. Prayer hindrances. The bible speaks clearly of these prayer blockers. So what are they? Read Complete Posting

Light Up The Room

You are the world’s light-a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.” Matthew 5:14-16 While I was shopping this past Christmas I found a beautiful mosaic candle holder. Its red and gold with two gold crosses on the front and on the back. I just had to get a closer look so I took it into my hands. As I held it I heard the Holy Spirit say,

Tithing Has Always Been God's Will

Tithe and offerings did not start when the law was implemented. Tithe and offerings is a principle/commandment that our God must have taught Adam directly. Then Adam taught his sons Cain and Abel. Genesis 4:3-7 tells about what happens when these brothers present their tithes to God. Read Complete Posting

Overflow With Hope In Him

“So I pray for you Gentiles that God who gives you hope will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in Him. I pray that God will help you overflow with hope in Him through the Holy Spirit’s power within you.” Romans 15:13Up until Wednesday night my heart felt troubled and unsettled over the condition of our nation. To see the evil rebellion against the Judeo-Christian principles and values that this country was founded on and America fearlessly forsaking God brought great concern and turmoil to my spirit. I prayed and fasted, asking God to have mercy on us. It felt like I was in mourning for three days.Read Complete Posting

"Not Now Lord!"

The Lord been tugging at my heart trying to get me to come out of my comfort zone and step out in faith. I know I’m not the only one. Each of us has a calling on our lives. Our purpose is for such a time as this. We are being trained and prepared daily for the service that He has called us to. He is helping us restructure, restore, and renew all areas of our lives making us living testimonies bringing glory to Him and the name of Jesus. Read Complete Posting

Wisdom & Discipline Go Hand in Hand

What I have discovered is that if we want to receive wisdom, grow in knowledge and understanding then we must have a willingness to be taught, receive wise counsel, criticism, correction, and sometimes even rebuke. If this is a problem for us then we need to truly seek God’s help because we are in danger of heading down the wrong path.Let me show you what the Proverbs says about this subject and may the Holy Spirit give you eyes to see and ears to hear how important it is that we truly grasp the importance of these principles.Read Complete Posting

It'll Be Ok!!

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7It’ll be ok I promise. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get so caught up in trying to figure things out; contemplating all the what ifs, that we lose our peace and joy. We begin to meditate on the dilemma so much that we have forgotten to take it to our Lord in prayer. If we get into trying to fix our problems on our own in our own strength we most certainly will complicate things even further. We have to learn to instinctively run to the throne room full of humility and a willingness to listen and obey. Then we can make our supplications known to God, lay down our will at His feet and accept His Wisdom thankfully. Then His peace will most certainly guard our minds and hearts from worry, fear, and anxiety as we meditate and trust in His Word, Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)Read Complete Posting

Taking It One Day At A Time

“So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble” Matthew 6:34I love this verse. It has taught me that I only have to deal with today’s problems today. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow’s problems now. In fact I don’t have to worry at all and neither do you, because God’s got it. There is nothing that happens in our life that God is not in full control of. What ever situation we are facing, whatever our need we must remember that we are not in it alone. The Almighty One is on our side. So why worry? Why fret? Why fear? He will bring us thru ever time. He never fails! Read Complete Posting

Will The Real Christians Please Pick Up Your Swords

Warning..Not for the sensitive

Do you realize that we are in a battle? There is a war raging constantly for the souls of mankind. Take a look around you. The enemy is working overtime destroying families. Listen to all the tragedy in the news. He has young children disillusioned and trapped in drugs, sex, and gangs. He even has Christians deceived into thinking that it is ok to be on the sidelines or pew warmers. Click here to continue reading

Are You Ready To Fly?

“So be prepared, for you don’t know what day our Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42) Do not ignore the signs of the times. These are crucial days that our Lord warned about in Matthew 24. There is war and rumors of war. Famine and pestilence is every where. Evil men are claiming to be Christ and there are false prophets doing wonderful works and miracles deceiving many. Even some of those who claim to know our Lord and His Word believe the works of these lying spirits.Read Complete Posting

A Story of A Champion

Let me introduce you to my brother in law and brother in the Lord. He is living proof that our God is still in the business of doing miracles. After a 15 year drug addiction he has been delivered by God and is now completely sold out to Jesus. He is a JESUS FREAK!! I asked him to share his story and his experience from this weekend. I give you Mike Colon.. A story of a champion. Read Complete Posting Now

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Stop Pulling The Not Under The Law Card

“It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom.” Galatians 5:13-14 – The Message Bible

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the misuse of our freedom in Christ and how some Christians will use the "not under the law" verse to justify something that we want to do, that may technically be legal, permissible (allowable and lawful) for us; but may not be spiritually appropriate or helpful (good for us to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things). (1 Corinthians 6:12, 10:23-24)

So often times the Christian will say as a means of justification for something that they want to do, that may not be the best thing for them or others around them, “We are free. We are not under the law we are under grace”, instead of truly praying and seeking God about whether it is HIS WILL for them to do whatever it is that they are contemplating, even if it is technically legal."[Many things] are not specifically condemned by the Scriptures, and thus we must apply other criteria. For example, would these matters cause us to sin, or harm our bodies, or cause a brother to stumble, or tempt us to fall into a pattern we could not control? Clearly if those things occurred, then it would be wrong for us to do them. If not, then we have the liberty to enjoy these activities" - Curtis C. Thomas

I love how The Message Bible translates 1 Corinthians 6:12,

“If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims.”
Our freedom in Christ is not a means of justification for us to do whatever it is we think we want to do, especially those things that are just us trying to fit into to our culture or us wanting to fulfill a selfish or even sinful desire. We are called to live in freedom, but our freedom is meant to serve God by living in the Spirit and by serving one another in love, not for us to live without restraint. (Romans 7:6, Galatians 5:13-14)

It is dangerous to claim freedom in Christ as a means of indulging the flesh. Some claim, "I'm free. I'm free" only to find that their 'freedom' has led them into shame, regret, isolation, and bondage because their freedom was not freedom at all. It was a false sense of liberty that led to a lack of self-control, self-discipline, and discernment. Some have been so deceived in their 'freedom' that they justify old behavior, thoughts, attitudes, and self-expression causing themselves to slip back into their old ways of living. Some have even allowed themselves to become so 'free' that they've harden their hearts and will not allow themselves to receive loving correction and exhortation accusing the concerned brother or sister in Christ of being judgemental or legalistic. (1 Peter 1:14, Ephesians 5:21-24, Proverbs 3:11-12, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Proverbs 27:5) I like what Sam Storm has to say about this:

"The Christian is not free to do what the Bible forbids. Christian freedom does not entail the right to fornicate or to steal or to lie or to persist in an unforgiving attitude or to do anything else the Scriptures explicitly prohibit. And a person who lovingly points this out to you is not a legalist for having done so!" - Sam Storms

For the record let us get it right, Christians are free from the law but not lawless. Often time people will quote Romans 6:14 saying, “We are not under law but under grace”, well we really need to know what that whole verse says in order to really understand what Paul meant. Here is Romans 6:14 out of the NLT Bible:

“Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.”

Paul is showing us that since we have died with Christ we are not under that old way of being right with God, which was by trying to do what the law tells us to do without the power to do it. That way, made us slaves to sin. It was SIN that took advantage of God’s good commands and deceived us. The problem has never been with God’s law. The problem is sin in us that incites us to do what the law prohibits. The law is spiritual and good. (Romans 7:12, 14) However,

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”-Romans 8:3-4

Because we have received Jesus Christ as Lord we now live under the freedom of God’s grace that empowers us by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to serve and obey God and love and serve our neighbors and also to walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) Christ’s liberty is truly about loving service to God and man. I read a quote that said,

“Love’s slaves are the true freemen.”

Living under the freedom of God’s grace does not mean that we do not have to follow God’s commands or are free to live a life without self-discipline. (John 14:15) It means that now sin is not our master anymore and that we are now able to please God by living by the Spirit’s power, by faith, not by trying to obey the Law of Moses.

“Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.” – Romans 3:31

I read another quote by A.T. Pierson which says:

“True Freedom is found only in obedience to proper restraint. A river finds liberty to flow, only between banks: without these it would only spread out into a slimy, stagnant pool. Planets, uncontrolled by law, would only bring wreck to themselves and to the universe. The same law which fences us in, fences others out; the restraints which regulate our liberty also insure and protect it. It is not control, but the right kind of control, and a cheerful obedience which make the free man.”

My goal with this post is to encourage those who like to pull the "not under the law" card as a means of justification for their actions to "Stop It". I would encourage you to first really pray and seek God in His Word as to whether or not He truly wants for you to do whatever it is you're thinking or planning to do in your 'freedom', even if it’s technically legal. Allow God to help you check your heart and motives. Be sure you are not slipping into your old ways. Be sure it is the Holy Spirit leading you and not your flesh. Also may we all beware of the deceiving spirit that would have us think that our freedom in Christ is a license to sin, or to live to satisfy our own desires and whims. Let us follow the instructions given to us in Romans 12:2, let God transform us into a new people by changing the way we think. Then we will learn to know God’s will for us and we can do what He would have us to do in every situation.

I pray that through the verses shared throughout this post we all see that we are free in Christ, given power to live a life of righteousness, love, and service to God and others. May our lives bring Him glory and may we hear our Master say one day,

We have been discussing the similar topics at church lately. There has been a "grace" movement that has has stolen many people from the body of Christ. In my church, there is a group who is going way to the other side of law to opposite extremes.

I have loved learning about the grace of God because I grew up in an era of the pharisee mentality. We "do" because God says so! Granted, we do have the law to tell us what is sin, but back then, there was nothing said about heart motives, the love of God, the forgiving nature of God, etc. It was just something we all ran from as soon as we were able to not HAVE to go to church.

Our Pastor talked on Sunday about how grace is NOT the opposite of the law. Grace frees us from the law of death and condemnation, but it is not the opposite. So many people have fallen into the other side of grace where absolutely everything is permissible and they have no rules. Again, it's like where is the heart behind that?

I love people like Graham Cooke and Joseph Prince, because although they are "grace" preachers, they encourage us not to miss what that means. They encourage us to seek the nature, heart, and love of God, not excuse our behavior :)

Thanks so much for sharing your comment with me Heaven. What a blessing. I think part of the reason there is such a grace movement is because of how religious and legalist some of the churches were. These brothers and sisters that came out of that just want to be free so bad that they can get off balance. I did not grow up in the church so my experience is so different. All I know is that I long to please God. I do long to follow His Word. I do believe that we can learn from the New and Old Testament. I believe what 2 Timothy 3:16-17. I know in my heart though that there is nothing I can do to be saved. I know that it comes from my faith in Christ. He has made me right in God's eyes and for this I owe Him my life, ALL of it. I rely on His grace and mercy for the many times I fall short, but I do not use it as an excuse to do whatever I want. I long to fullfill His will in my life. I will be praying against this deceptive spirit that has been coming against our brothers and sisters. Thanks again for sharing. Sorry for rabbling...lol

My God is Faithful!

Psalm 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

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Welcome to Real Christian Talk. Thank you for stopping by. I pray and hope that the Lord leads you to something that I have written that will encourage and edify you. Please feel free to share your comments. I know you have something to say that someone needs to hear. Please come back and visit. Also consider signing up for email updates below or following this blog. God bless you..Lisa aka Trophy of Grace

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The Only Way

Jesus told him,"I am the Way-yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of me. John 14:6

Believe-Repent-Confess

Romans 10:9-10That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Ours Sins Are Forgotten

Micah 7:19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

You're a New Creation

You Represent Christ

Live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings as these. You are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more & more of what is right, & trying constantly to be more & more like Christ who created this new life within you. (Ephesians 4:1,Colossians 3:10)

Good Plans & Hope

For I know the plans I have for you, "declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13

Always On His Mind

How precious to me are your thoughts,O God! Were I to count them, they would out number the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.Psalm 139:17-18

He is Molding Us

As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand." Jeremiah 18:6

Surefooted in Difficulties

The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and he will make me walk on my high hills. Habakkuk 3:19

Power To The Weak

He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

Do You Walk The Talk?

“We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord. In fact, in everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God.” 2 Corinthians 6:1-4Read Complete Posting

Do You Have Faith? Prove it!

Someone may say, “I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to Christ.” But if he doesn’t DO what Christ tells him to he is a liar. But those who DO what Christ tells them to will learn to love God more and more. That is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did. (1 John 2:3-4) Read Complete Posting

Don't Forget The Miracles

Do you want to know how to make it through the storms of life with out being utterly consumed and overtaken by the winds? Don’t forget the miracles!! Remember the miracles that our Faithful Lord has done in your life and in those around you. Remind yourself of them especially while you are in the middle a terrible storm. Then meditate on the truth that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is still a miracle working God who is capable and willing to save you and bring you through life’s troubles. Expect Him to act! Read Complete Posting